Information Technology consultancy and services provider Patni Computer Systems is planning to hire 2,000 more employees, mostly IT professionals, in calendar year 2003 as it expects to post an 'above average' growth rate.

"We expect to increase our clientele, and in turn, our business in 2003, and an addition of employees is in line with this growth," PCS General Manager  (Marketing) Deepak Khosla told PTI in Mumbai on Sunday.

About 90 per cent of the new employees would be from software and related sectors, he said.

The company had recruited over 1,600 employees in 2002, a major chunk of these being software professionals, taking the total number of employees to 5,690 as of December 31, 2002, Khosla said.

The company had around 4,150 personnel on its rolls in 2001, with over 90 per cent being software professionals.

The IT major is also planning to acquire real estate for its offices and infrastructure, he said.

The IT services provider had posted a 42 per cent growth in 2002, while it was slightly lower at 32 per cent as of March 31, 2003, he said adding PCS expects to maintain the 'high growth' figures in the current fiscal.

"We expect to post an above average industrial growth," Khosla said and added the Indian IT sector was expected to post a 20 per cent growth rate in the current fiscal.

On the client acquisition front, he said PCS was in talks with certain clients for outsourcing deals.

The company was recently awarded a seven-year $35million outsourcing contract from an American company Guardian Life Insurance Company.

The company had acquired 30 new clients in 2002 and 'expects to add a few more this year', he said adding Patni expects its existing clients to account for 90 per cent of the revenue.

Under the contract, Patni would assist Guardian introduce new life and annuity products, and undertake GAAP analysis and implementation of IT systems.

Majority of the work will be delivered out of Patni's Offshore Development Centers in India, Khosla said.

The company was preparing for its Initial Public Offering, though a date is yet to be fixed, he said.